Anyone try a Mac then switch BACK to Windows and/or Dell ?

I've always been a PC guy, and I've been a Dell guy for as long as I can remember. It's soon time for me to upgrade to a faster machine, and I'm (once again ) contemplating trying a Mac. There's something about it that intrigues me, but I've never owned/used one.

I'm just wondering if anyone out there has tried a Mac, but didn't like it -- so they switched back to Windows.

I thought about asking this question on a Mac forum, but let's face it... those guys are obviously happy, otherwise they wouldn't still be on that forum.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback from previous (or current?) Mac users.

Thanks!

 

Well... I used to hate Macs...

But I tried a MBP... loved it. So I bought one, and I hardly ever used windows.

Then again, I prefer *nix systems over Windows a lot anyway. Since I've been on these forums (over a year) I have only heard of a few people who haven't been huge fans. That number would be in the single digits though.

*PS* if anything, this belongs in the Windows forum. Only those who own Dells or see the newest threads will see this, so you will not get a variety of opinions.

 

I owned a Macbook Black, after 3 months I sold it and bought a Clevo 14" notebook, I got fed up by the lack of software. Lack of users, and just "baby" approach to computing.

I will always stick with PC's, just not the same approach with a Mac.

I am happily enjoying Windows Vista, and some great Windows only programs.

Don't waste your money on something that is useless, trust me! I have a whole article on which I wrote about Mac's. PM if you would like it!

Nick.

 

I have an iBook. It's been very nice, though at 1.33 GHz it's a little underpowered now. The things about it that bother me most are its lack of a built-in right-click and its inability to run some of the programs I need to run due to the OS.

I've thought about getting a Macbook, since they can run Windows now, but I've heard the battery life isn't as good in Windows as it is in OS X. Also they seem to run hotter than some similar size PCs. And you're more restricted in ports and configuration options than you are with laptops like the M1330.

 

hey

I had a mac mini cause I like the idea of no viruses, or hardley any, no bloatware like anti spyware adware programs that are needed for PC.

But it is not built really for downloading and normal stuff I do on a Pc.

Loved the O/S far far far better than M/S but just did not get along with the downloading TV shows, ect..

Try it in shop and see how it goes, dont knock it until you tried it.

I have no idea why there is such a thing with PC and Mac, they are both really good, but depending on what you want it for.

Mac= Wicked for photo stuff editing, movie stuff and graphics.

PC= Good for normal computer geek stuff like downloading, games internet, and just normal stuff.

Conclusion, for gaming and stuff choose pc, but if you need to do more complex stuff like editing or photo shop ect. choose mac.

My mate in work was pc all the way and he is a profesional photographer, he bought a i-mac and he will never go back to PC.

Hope this helped a bit.

 

Take his feedback seriously guys. Macs = UGH... Vista ROX! LAWLZZZZ

 

I love Pc's and anyone who says vista rocks is smoking rocks.

vista has so many problems, and why why why put so so so much junk on it.

It seemed like bill was trying to please everyone in the world and then added it on to vista.

I like PC dont get me wrong, but they tried copying mac and leopard and making eye candy, but why why why, does it take 2gb of ram just to use you o/s.

I thought this might have been fixed with sp1 but Bill dropped the ball again.

 

May I ask what makes an Apple product 'wicked' for photo editing 'canada16'? Macs use the same processors, RAM, GPU's and LCD's that any high-end generic rig can be kitted out with.

I'd conceed that they are popular with the professional design crowd but I'm yet to hear definitively that they are infact any better suited for the job in any way.

It's just 'trendy' to outfit your style conscious studio with them as far as I can tell.

 

if you watch gadget shows and stuff they do side by side comparisons. the mac can edit and transfer faster than a PC.

Trust me I know, I work with a mac tech and also pc users.

 

hardly impartial from the guy with the apple logo for his avatar!

I used macs a lot in school for graphic design and PC's for 3d rendering so i got used to both formats

I did last year decide to get a mac for the whole "simplicity" of it all no virus / firewall to install and configure etc and the whole "it just works".

as you probably can see from my tag im back to my dells


ill agree OS X is a very easy to use reliable system and very nice looking.
but after a while i got bored of the animations and bouncing icons it seemed just a bit too... "Taddaaaa look what I can do" and made the system feel just a bit slow as if they were trying to keep my mind of how long it was taking my apps to load the final straw was the 10.5.2 update caused the operating system to completely die (required a reinstall of OS X)

thats not to say that hasn't happened to me in XP but Ive always been able to recover the system without having to resort to a reformat Im now trying Vista out on my E1505 its slower than XP and OS X but its otherwise on par with OS X in my opinion.

Well that was more than I'd intended to write so let me put the rest and some of that into a easy to read bulleted list.

Mac Pros

• Few program compatibility issues
• Simple interface
• Attractive machines (are cool to college kids)
• Few virus's and no spyware

Mac Cons

• Expensive, the Macbook I bought cost more than my car
• Stability at the expense of backwards compatibility with older apps and hardware
• Fairly slow bootup
• Fairly frequently a program would "unexpectedly quit" on me
• Killed itself with the update
• Upgrades are very limited (no putting in the latest and greatest gpu in a tower)

Vista Pros (Dell)

• Cheap! my e1505 cost less than half what the macbook did at similar specs
• Better backwards compatibility support, can play my ancient games on vista that were built for 95 (and dos games)
• Flip 3D is fairly nice way to change apps while seeing what you were doing in them
• Hardware acceleration on most dedicated GPUS (OS X probably does this by now, but myne didn't)
• Games i like!
• Upgrade ability
• Less pretty (E1505) so less likely to get nicked

Vista cons (Dell)

• Hotter and poorer build quality (but my laptops not exactly high end)
• Continues hard drive usage (unless on battery's)
• Slow boot while the system learns my habits

Disclaimer:
This is my thoughts im sure you will disagree but im trying to think as impartially as I can and explain why I switched back
correcting me on my spellings and grammar is just a waste of our time and does not help either argument.

 

My first computer was a mac and i have never owned one since.

 

I used to think Macs were more secure. Then I read this
http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-091.htm

In particular the comments after Steve Gibson asks
What do you think about Windows versus Mac security?

 

It just works, and my comment was sarcastic as the gentleman was indicating how great vista was... So I was insisting sarcastically not to take his thoughts too seriously.

Aside from that, I have 3 notebooks as of right now. 2 mac's and 1 dell XPS gaming system. I use the XPS to play all the games I want to play. The Mac's are for everything else.

 

I've used a Mac since 2001 and been a Microsoft user since 1992. Honestly both OS's have their good and bad. Each OS is rather bloated. OSX needs some nice hardware and good amount of memory or you'll get the dreaded "it doesn't feel zippy". Vista OTOH is just plain bloated even with some nice hardware and SP1 installed.

I went back to Windows for many reasons. One of which is i'm a huge PC gamer and the Mac hardware and OS just doesn't cut it for me. I like to upgrade video cards, HDD, CPU, Ram and buy the best parts available. You can't do that if you own a Mac. Or if you decide to go that route you'll pay through the nose.

I also find that Mac games are not as plentiful and more expensive than they are on a PC. Last year I saw a copy of Tiger Woods 2003 at a Mac shop selling for $39.99 which I bought for the PC three years ago at EBGames for $1.99

The one thing I miss about OSX is the UI. It's so fluid and integrated to the OS. In Windows your drop down menus are tied to the program window you are running. In OSX they change depending on whether your window is active or not as the file menus are always visible in OSX from the desktop.

Spyware and virus are always oversold to the Mac OSX and that's partly because it has such a low marketshare. I was amused to find that the latest OSX update had some 93-95 security patches. As the marketshare rises for Apple so will the vulnerabilities.

I have found both OS's equally stable. Windows XP, Vista and OSX. I've had my fair share of Application quits and quirky problems on OSX. I also found that most websites I visit are setup for Windows based browsers and as opposed to Safari which btw I wasn't crazy about. Much prefer Firefox or Opera. Don't get me wrong Safari does some nice things but Firefox offers a better package. Also torrent software is much better handled and more plentiful on the Windows side. I also prefer Windows media player over Quicktime.

In the future I may get another Mac but my next purchase will be the newly designed Dell Latitudes which should arrive in the next 3 months.

 

Durious, your attitude is exactly why most people think of mac users as an overzealous bunch of fanboys... I fell head over heels for macs during a summer i spent at Emory where everything is Apple... I was like "OMG this is the best wtf mate!" then i realized it was actually fisher price computing, the OS babied me... I got fed up after the 3rd month of it and then decided i would keep to an XP machine. Then it happened again with college notebook shopping... "OMG Tiger is so teh sweet" and then again i realized the limitations to gaming and the rest. Now i'm in love with vista and not looking back.

 

I'm a overzealous fanboy as I have both PC's and MAC's? Good argument. Limitations are in gaming yes but the "rest"?? Okay what are these? With Mac's allowing XP \ Vista to run natively via bootcamp if you got a higher end Mac machine you can game but then of course your not really in a mac environment just utilizing a mac designed machine with another OS. Regardless if your a fanboy then you would only utilize a certain brand of machines. I utilize XP \ Ubuntu \ Mac OS X. I dislike vista I initially had it on my XPS but it's lack of support for my printers, and other devices made it unusable.

 

Have you used vista?

I've used a Mac most of my life, and I'm used to doing things the 'Mac' way. IMHO, doing things the 'windows' way is quite stupid, but that's because I've been using a Mac for quite some time. It's the other way around for people who use Windows all the time and then sit down with a Mac. They are different, but complaining about every little difference isn't going to help your experience. I am, however, probably going to get going with an XP installation on my M1530, and get rid of Vista...

As a Mac user, I do prefer XP to Vista. Microsoft really dumbed down Vista for the majority of the users who have no idea what's going on inside their computer.

Right now, my M1530 is running the diagnostics test, while I continue working (developing) on my Mac.

The only 'lack of software' I find on my Mac is a lack of games, but depending on what you use the computer for, your experience may vary.

 

Did you install XP on your m1530? If so, how would you now compare your m1530 to your Mac?

 

I'm interested in buying a Macbook. In fact a MBP was my first choice when deciding on a new laptop. But when it came to pressing the BUY button @ the Apple store I could not justify spending an extra $800 for the same hardware as the 1530. So an MBP (Air probably) has gone on my xmas list for next year and I'm happy with my Dell.

 

I've done the switch and back. Went from my Dell Latitude C640, to a Powerbook G4, back to a ThinkPad T61.

A bit of background. I'm somewhat platform agnostic --I can get most things done on Windows or OS X, and I can usually find an application on either if I look hard enough. I used to be an Apple Certified Tech, but I've also been a Windows sysadmin for a long time.

I really enjoyed the Powerbook, but I needed a faster machine, and I insist on discrete graphics. What killed a Mac purchase for me was really the price. My cheapest option was an Apple Certified Refurbished Macbook Pro, using a Merom-core CPU, for $1449 (a new Macbook Pro would have been $1799 educational discount, it's $200 more for those who don't qualify) with a 1-year warranty. I got a ThinkPad T61 with a fairly similar configuration but a faster Penryn-core processor (and a slightly lower-res 15.4" display) with a 2-year warranty for $1,000.

The Macbook Pro would have had to come down to $1200 before I considered it. Great machine, and I like OS X --and if you want to do video editing with your laptop, probably still the best choice, when combined with iMovie, FinalCut Express, or the full FinalCut Pro. But I can do everything else equally well with a PC laptop, and I saved money on a machine constructed equally well, with better performance.

P.S. If you really do want a Mac, buy Apple Certified Refurbished if you can. They look like new, work like new, and are warranteed the same as new (with the same chance to purchase the AppleCare warranty) but they cost considerably less.

 

That was my plan. I'm kinda waiting for the Penryn Macbook Pros to hit the refurb section. But even as a refurb, the price is still more than a Dell, due to the great deals (coupons, EPP or the Outlet).

Truth is, every time I get my mind set on buying a Mac I get nervous and end up waiting a while longer. I wait, then get set again, but the concerns come right back. Not sure if it'll ever happen... but the intrigue remains.

 

Refurb Penryn-core MBP's are likely to cost more than the Merom-core models. When Merom MBP's were current, refurbs cost $1699 as opposed to the $1449 current price.

Personally, I don't think it's worth the extra $250 to wait. If you're set on a Mac, go with the current $1449 refurb and enjoy it.

P.S. To complicate your life just a little more, if you're still wavering on Dell, I'd advise checking out Lenovo's discounts as well. I like Dell too (we have a fleet of them I take care of at work) but the prices on Lenovo beat them when I was shopping for myself a month ago, and I ended up with a ThinkPad. I'm really liking it.

 

Thanks!

 

In a job some years back, doing technical support for an ISP actually, they got an iMac in. I have no idea what OS was on it, but each of us had to do at least 4 hours per week on it. The reason for this was more of our customers were getting the iMac at the time and they wanted us to be a bit more 'schooled' if you will.

It was a miserable experience for all of us except the guy who had one at home, and he ended up using it every day after the few few training weeks.

That being said, I've tried the ones at BB and all, very nice and I'm sure if I had one I'd learn to use it, especially with the boot camp option and switch back and forth most likely.

I almost got a macbook instead of the dell, maybe next time.

 

MacOS has come a long way since "a few years ago". Were you using Classice MacOS or OS X?

Classic MacOS had a relatively easy user interface, but suffered from poor memory management (it was still a cooperative multitasking OS like Windows 9x, rather than a preemptively multitasking OS like 2000/XP or OS X).

OS X had a rocky start, but has improved steadily as well. IMO, 10.3 was the first really good version, 10.4 is excellent. 10.5 is good, though it's a better upgrade for Intel Macs than older ones, and I probably wouldn't recommend the upgrade to people who already have 10.4 and are happy.

I find a lot of people who are disappointed in their Mac experience are disappointed based on an experience that is a number of years old. While Apple has not been, and never will be a perfect company, I think their current stuff is great for a single-user experience (don't get me started on client/server networking, though ).

 

We bought a Mac mini a couple years ago with OS X. It's alright, but neither my wife (its primary user) nor I ever decided to commit to the Apple world. Marketing hype aside, "It just works" isn't always true, and OS X has its share of bugs, quirks, and idiosyncracies. In the end, it ended up being an internet/e-mail machine.

As for security: One of the things I always thought was stupid are "Security Updates" on a Mac. I just downloaded the latest one yesterday. If OS X is so secure, why waste your time, I've always wondered? Why does Apple release them? And a firewall in OS X? What for? Clearly, those things are there for a reason. On my Windows machines, I use only free-ware security programs, and I've NEVER had any security issues. So on a practical level, Windows and OS X have been equally secure for me.

Anyway, I think it just boils down to what you're comfortable with. If you're being lured by the glitz of something new, try Ubuntu Linux or something. It's CHEEEEAP...and secure...and you can get lots of free software to do just about anything you could ever want to.

 

Yes, I have owned a mac and switched back. Here is the story. I won what was suppose to be a new mac in a national sweepstake. After I received it was actually a refurb. It was only used about 5 times for net surfing and it went down for the count. I contacted Apple and they had American based support that appeared to be nice when they were selling me my applecare so that I could get the problem resolved. Sounds good right, WRONG. I sent the computer in to the repair center and they stole my outside covering for my notebook and sent me a dirty scratched up one in return. FURIOUS because my computer didn't even leave the box until I had purchased and receive a keyboard cover to protect the keyboard from scratches and spills and a use in the case cover to protect it from scratches. I IMMEDIATELY contacted apple to tell them of the problem and they agreed and replaced the covering. I think that it was the harddive that initially failed. Next I put in a CD and heard "scrub, scrub, scrub, grind, grind, grind" and back it went; a few week later, "scrub, scrub, scrub, grind, grind, grind"; again and I wanted a replacement. Apple refused to replace it because I had won it but not purchased it, which wasn't a problem when I was purchasing the applecare mind you. APPLE SUCKS as do their computers. This is why there are sooooo may refurbs for sell. If they sold a computer that could legally spit out $100 I would pass and I LOVE and NEED money. LOL.

I like APPLES the fruit, but as for as spending one red cent for an apple product or advising others to do so (I am VERY, VERY, VERY frequently asked for purchase suggestions) I would say "DON'T do it".

I have heard that it is good for this and that but for me it was a bunch of unsubstantiated, miserable hype. Since other companies now offer colors I would have to say 'DON'T TAKE A BITE FROM APPLE".


Apple didn't value me as a customer and I don't value them as a company to spend my money at or to recommend to others.

A lot of repair centers rip you off. Apples repair center stole from me, and Toshiba repair center reported problems that I didn't have (like missing cosmetic parts) just so that they could charge Toshiba for them. BOTH of those laptops were lemons that couldn't even be used for simple net surfing. Others had many complaints against those particular models as well so I am NOT a winer. I am now on a Dell, the screen is not ideal (the grainy problem) but I haven't had any other problems just yet. The macbook or whatever it was almost immediately exhibited problem, the toshiba had the inverter go out after about 6 months, and the Dell is relatively new and hasn't been used to surf extensively yet.

 

I've always wanted to try a Mac, so last summer I bought a 15 inch Macbook Pro with the LED backlit screen. The color rendition on the screen was inconsistent, with a distinct yellowing of whites at the bottom. Calibrating the screen with a colorimeter couldn't fix this, so I exchanged it for another. The second one was even worse, with non-uniform backlighting and the yellowing problem. Also, the second machine had some noticeable build defects, including a bulge in the aluminum palm rest. So I returned the Mac and got my money back.

I was disappointed in my first Mac experience since I really wanted to learn the OS. While I had the Mac, I hung out on Mac forums and saw lots of problems posted about build quality and software issues. No different from PC forums. So I came to realize that a lot of the Mac mystique is really marketing hype. The Mac OS has its own equivalent of the BSOD, although you wouldn't think that was possible based on the advertisements. I also found that programs seemed to take a long time to open, even though I had a 2.4 GHz processor.

I'm really happy with my M1530 running Windows Vista. Even though it's got a 2.2 GHz processor, it seems much faster than the Macbook Pro I had. And the LCD panel is much better. Someday, I may try a Mac again. But Apple will need to improve its quality control for me to justify the expense of its hardware.

 

I've got a mixed environment at my house (2 Windows based laptops, and an iMac (also running Vista Business via Boot Camp) and a MBP. I didnt get introduced to the Mac OS until the beginning of last year; it was basically forced upon me since we introduced some MBP's to our user community. As I got to become familiar with the OS, I started to like it. It grew on me, just as XP did (from 2000) and how Vista has done from XP. I dont think I'd ever really choose one over the other, since I like aspects of both.

 

Man, every time I get serious about buying a Mac I read some of these negative comments and it scares the cr@p out of me. I'm very confused.

 

Here's an interesting article from the fine folks @ Slashdot....

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/03/27/2011229

 

I used to be a Mac zealot and I couldn't understand why anyone would use anything other than a Mac. Now I still like Macs and OS X and still use them but I use PC's also. For me the reasons not to use a Mac comes down to price or a lack of specific hardware I'm looking for. For instance I wanted a small, light powerful laptop with discreet graphics so there was no Mac notebook that matched the XPS M1330. Software can be an issue, for instance when I updated my Mac to Leopard from Tiger Photoshop 7 was no longer compatible. With Vista Photoshop 7 works fine. It ticked me off that software that I use quite often was no longer usable and I would have to spend quite a bit to update it or I would have to purchase a Windows license to use with bootcamp. With that said if you can run all of your software on OS X it is my preferred OS, Leopard is stable, fast, good looking, and pretty much lacks viruses

 

I use both everyday, have for about 7-8 years. OS X is actually pretty smooth and easy to get used to. I am a tweaker on my PCs and I have to admit it is kind of nice to just install an OS and get on with what you need/want to do as opposed to tweaking the hell out of it to get it to play nice and not waste your resources. OS X has its faults too but I think it's generally much more plug-n-go friendly. Windows is more user maintenance but many of us don't mind that either?

Mac's are definitely over priced and the only reason to buy one is OS X IMHO. So if you have the cash and want to switch sides for the sake of fairly hassle free computing go for it. You can run both OS's NP so if you already have a copy of Windows you can install on it you are set for gaming too

 

I know lots of people who use macs and love them. However, i dont personally know anyone who actually knows anything about computers who use macs. The impression I get from macs are that there dumb downed computers for people who dont know anything about computers. Take for instance the whole 'no viruses' thing. For someone who doesnt know about computers, no viruses is a great thing because if they used a PC, they would be more then likely to run into a few viruses. However, for people who actually know things about computers, no viruses mean NOTHING because they know how to use their PC so that viruses arent a problem! I built my desktop 3 years ago and have been running Avast! (which is totally free) for anti virus protection, and spybot (free as well) for spyware. I have never had a virus on this machine and no spyware problems. Its simply due to knowing how to navigate around the internet safely and not doing anything dumb. Many mac users have a problem with this, so therefore they like the apparent easyness of macs because they dont get any viruses. If you want proof of this, walk into a mac store and ask them technical questions about computers in general and they sit there with their mouth open.

The other reason I'd never get a mac is because of the price. I am about to order a dell XPS m1530 for about $1500. To get the same specs in a macbook pro, the mac website says i'd have to spend about $2500. This is outright insane. However, I understand how this isnt an issue for many people who have tons of money to spend, but seeing as I need to pay for my college career, I just dont get it.

Anyways, just my two cents, good luck picking your next machine!

 

With Macs, you can decide how much you want to know and don't want to know; this is exactly like Windows. And I know plenty of people who don't know anything about computers that use a Windows-based machine; I don't think there's a monopoly on either side of the fence.

If you run a Windows-based PC, you can decide if you want to know how to edit the system registry, or edit your system's local policies, or tweak your Windows Services.

In the Mac, you can decide if you ever want to open Terminal, and if so, if you want to learn to use all the underlying command structure that is mostly BSD UNIX. And there is plenty to do underneath, provided you want to.

I don't know of a single platform that doesn't allow you to get down and dirty if you want to. Most people that I know that are Mac users aren't because it's a dumbed-down easy computer. Rather, it's because it is a computer that works the way they want. I find that PC users are likely to be more concerned with the process of a task; Mac users know how they want a task to look like when it is finished. And I see nothing wrong with it either way.

"Knowing anything about computers" is also somewhat subjective. If I'm a Mac user, and know Photoshop backwards and forwards, would you define that as knowing something about computers, or just about one application? What about if I know how to use System Preferences to change my networking setup? I think it sounds like "knowing anything about computers" in your definition means knowing something about PC's and/or Windows, not knowing something about Macs --and that perhaps, if someone knew a lot about Macintosh computers, but little about Windows-based PC's, they'd still "not know anything about computers" by your definition.

 

I've never used Macs full-time but I used Macs in school and supported OSX at work. I prefer Windows. I think OSX looks nice and is a great OS (so is Ubuntu Linux by the way), but I don't think it can do anything that Windows can't. At work I've had just as many issues with OSX as Windows.

I think Windows is just much more flexible with more software support and support for more hardware. OSX is a very closed system. Imagine if Microsoft told everyone that Windows will only work on their hardware?

 

I owned a Macbook for three months. It actually was my main machine for a while so that I could learn it well. However, I could never really get used to multitasking with OS X. I wanted a taskbar to show what was active and switch between programs quickly. Perhaps I would have done better if I just hooked it up to my monitor, I think the screen was slowing me down. I think Apples would be good for people who are relatively new to computing too. I have used Windows for over 13 years now and I am just used to that way of doing things.

However, I can see myself owning an Apple again in the future when I finally get out of college and have more money to spent on my technology habit. They are definitely nice machines, good build and aesthetics. For now though I have to supply myself with machines that do what I need them to do.

 

Just going to throw my 2c in here.

Firstly, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Vista. I'll agree that it's a resource hog on ram (1-1.5GB base install and idle) but when ram is selling for 50 bucks per 2GB who really cares. Spend next to nothing (100 tops), install 4GB and ram will never be an issue.

Vista is the most stable Microsoft OS to date. I've been running it for 3 months now with zero issues (relating to vista). It's a near flawless system that does it all.

Sure a Mac can do a lot of the things that a PC can, but when we live in a PC world why would you even bother with a Mac? Seriously, I'm all for fair competition but everyone I know that uses Mac's hates it. Mac's run mac apps great, but unfortunetly 99% of your friends have PC's and when you start trying to do PC stuff with a Mac it just plain fails.

Until Mac prices come down to a more competitive price (less then pc's) they'll continue to fail. Why would you pay more for an inferior product?

Just look at the battle with AMD and Intel. AMD was the underdog for quite some time but they compensated by being half the cost of comparable pentium chips. Sure AMD is dead in the water today, but I'm sure they'll pick themselves back up and get back in the scene in no time.

 

Points well said.

Honestly, I really would like Mac to be a real competitor to microsoft. Competition is a healthy thing in the marker, but right now there's just no sane reason to buy it.

Really, let's pay 2x the cost, not be able to upgrade easily, not be compatible with most hardware on the market, be incredibly limited in software, etc. For what? What's the gain? So you can process photo's better? That's seems to be the only real arguments that these Mac fanboi's have to offer.

 

Glad to hear that about Vista. It was actually one of the reasons I thought now is a good time to try a Mac. I figured if I had to deal with a new OS (Vista vs XP), might as well try the Mac's OS -- especially when I've heard so many negative things about Vista.

Speaking of Vista, which version of it do you guys recommend?

 

Home Premium.

 

Vista Business.

 

Guess I'll have to do some research on which Vista to get.

Does Vista really need a full 4GB of RAM to perform well? Or ???

 

No it doesn't need 4GB. Usually 2GB is enough unless you are doing something that uses a LOT of memory.

 

Hmm... Well, I've got a little Dell Latitude D420 right now, and I often run Outlook, Firefox (with LOTS of tabs open), Photoshop, and maybe one or two other small apps. All this runs without a problem on the D420 with XP and 1.5GB RAM. BUT, I recently added Adobe Lightroom, and running that alongside the above apps really slows everything down.

With that in mind, which Vista would you guys suggest, and how much RAM? I'm thing about going with either an m1330 or m1530 if that helps.

Thanks!

 

With your usage you could get by with 2GB, but 3GB would probably be best. Also note that you can't use 4GB on a 32-bit OS. You would need Vista 64bit to make use of 4GB.

I'm one of those that think the negative hype on Vista is overblown. I've used Vista since it came out and although it has its quirks (as do all OSes), it's been more stable than XP. Get it preinstalled on a machine and it should be fine.

You might want to check the compatibility of the software you use with Vista. As with all new OS that's one of the biggest issues.

Regarding Vista as a resource hog, it does use more resources than XP or any other OS I know of, but some of that is misconception. Vista tries to cache a lot of information that it thinks you might need based on your usage in RAM, thus the high RAM usage when idle. If you need the RAM for something else Vista will allocate that RAM to the app. So, it's not really using 1GB+ just for the OS. It also does a lot of indexing when first run or after a lot of stuff is installed. That indexing runs for a session or two and then should let up.

 

Thanks!

 

yes, me too ... i'm thinking now i'm going to order a T500 instead of 15" macbook pro ...

 

I switched from PC to Mac back to PC again.

I'd used PCs all my life, but when I started college in 2006, I was really interested in the sleek, uber-minimalist aesthetic of the computers themselves and the OS. So I bought a Macbook.

I game a little, so the first thing that turned me off was that, during customization, I couldn't upgrade certain features without being forced to go to the next powerful, more expensive model. That, and upgrading to 2GB of RAM was flippin' $600. Yeah, right. I got the base RAM and upgraded it myself for worlds less.

When I finally got my Mac, yeah, definitely loved it. I loved the menu bar, I loved the dock, I loved Finder and its windows that were all the same size, same format (still can't figure out how to do that a PC), I loved how simple it was to install programs. I did, however, like my crap battery, or the power adapter I had to replace three times in two years (thank god for Applecare - those things are $80 a pop!), or how it would freeze up for a while after I'd opened the lid. Yeah, Macs freeze.

Now I've gone from a 13" Mac to a 17" Dell that has way more HD space and runs games infinitely better. I still do love the Mac OS and the look of their computers, but will I ever buy one again? Probably not, especially when I can get a PC several times more powerful for way less money.

 

I myself have windows vista, but I have a friend who is a mac fanboy and we debate for fun all the time. I often catch him running windows xp to run some programs, and gloat over it for fun =)
I've used his macbook (maxed specs, aluminum) plenty of times, and I don't see how either OS is better than the other; with major companies such as microsoft and adobe making mac versions of their most popular programs, both OS's are quite versatile.

The only problem I have encountered with macs are that most of the most of the "parallel programs" for macs (mac versions of programs originally made for windows) are open-source or shareware, and do not have great support.